Marginalized midfielder tells friends he's leaving Tottenham

Etienne Capoue is close to finalizing a transfer away from Tottenham Hotspur, according to the Mirror. The marginalized midfielder, who started last season in Mauricio Pochettino's starting lineup, has told friends that he's "close" to finishing up a transfer to recently promoted EPL club Watford FC.

The sticking point, according to this rumor, is the transfer fee, which should surprise no one since the person involved in negotiating the fee is likely Daniel Levy. Spurs are probably going to want to recoup as much of the £9.6m they spent for Capoue as they possibly can, though breaking even seems unlikely. Watford just broke their transfer record by spending £7m for Diego Perotti, and while it looks like they're not averse to spending money to get the club on the best possible footing to stay in the Premier League longer than a year, they're also not a club that's made of money. The rumor isn't clear whether this deal would be a permanent signing or a season-long loan.

It's the Mirror, so the usual caveats apply to this transfer rumor. Could it happen? Of course. It could also be crap or fall apart due to a transfer fee, so it would be good to have this corroborated by a more reputable source. Take this with the usual tablespoon of salt for now.

Watford is linked to a lot of different players at present. The club has also been linked with Paulinho and Younes Kaboul this offseason, have already purchased Perotti as well as defenders Sebastian Prodl and Marco Motta, and locked up a new three year contract for former Spurs keeper Gomes.